05 February 2012

A Strange Encounter Part 7

The Price of
Syncretism...Patriotic Blood Idols and Molech Worship

In the
past, pagans have sacrificed for different reasons. Sometimes to merely pacify
the wrath and anger of a deity and sometimes to atone for sin...which obviously
is a concept we can resonate with. Whatever the theological particulars it was
understood that the sacrificial victim whether man or beast was giving up life
so that the collective group might be permitted to continue on.

This
became particularly horrifying when pagans sacrificed their own children to
Molech, Chemosh, Melqart, and other false gods. And as grieved as those parents
would have been, to them it was an act of piety, a sad but necessary sacrifice
for the continuation of Edom, Moab, or Carthage.

All
these nations tied their 'cult' in with the state...all were Sacral entities
that blended the concepts together. Christianity was different, because the
Redemption purchased by the Sacrifice of Christ was for a metaphysical nation,
an eschatological nation, a Spiritual nation...not a common political or ethnic
entity.

Christian
Sacralism reverts to the old model...and the cult by necessity is tied in with
the state and larger culture. Redemptive concepts are mixed and blended
producing a product that is no longer Christian in any Biblical sense of the
word.

Yes I
know the argument that culture is merely an outworking of cult...so therefore
we need to capture the culture right? No, we need to make sure that as we live
in the larger culture we don't confuse it with our true and Biblical cultus,
our worship. We need a conscious antithesis, something the worldview teachers
and Dominionists talk about, but actually work against.

By
wedding cult and culture what we really end up with is...Christians sacrificing
their children to Molech...or whatever you prefer to call the false idol of
America and its civil cult.

I
contend this whole convoluted and bizarre blend of American flags and
patriotism, the honouring of veterans and the cult of the military being
present in the Church is just that...idolatry, and the martyr-izing of the
fallen from within those ranks... and the eagerness of parents and leaders to
sacrifice their children in this way is highly reminiscent of the cult of
Gehenna.

From a
strictly secular standpoint...from the standpoint of a citizen that lives in
this country...rather than be pleased that there is a segment of the population
so willing to give up their lives, the lives of their children and their
freedoms for these reasons, the cult of state...I don't find it to be a source
of comfort but a great cause for concern. For several years now I've heard
Christians argue for a return of military conscription and many decry that 'so
few' bear the burden for so many.

I reject
that argument in its entirety. They bear no burden for me or my family. If they
want cause to persecute by reinstating the draft then so be it. In fact in some
ways I would appreciate the lines being drawn. The faithful will rise up and
denounce the false church and we will either suffer or leave.

I do not
find comfort in the fact that we have millions of people who love America so
much that they are willing to kill and die for it.

In part
this is because I don't believe people like the man's son died for the
nation...not if you define nation as the people who live within the
geo-political boundary. He died for a false religious ideal, but his death in
no way affected my life, made me more free, or kept me safe from anything.

I find
it disturbing that so many in embracing this idolatry have adopted what must be
called a willful blindness, a moral mandate forbidding them to even entertain
anything that might question the goodness of their nation, or question the
validity of its actions or paradigms. They won't hear it, not because they
don't want to...they won't hear it because it's immoral to even consider the
possibility that America might not be the holy nation, that its dead sons might
not be heroes.

This
tells me these people are highly susceptible to fear-based propaganda. These
are exactly the kind of people that can be handed a gun and told they are doing
the right thing in shooting someone else. These are the kind of people who can
be convinced of threats which do not exist, who can be taught to turn a blind
eye to suffering. These are the people who can easily fall for really
simplified and juvenile arguments appealing to deep emotions regarding race and
ethnicity.

If
another 11 September had occurred with a couple of years of 2001, I don't doubt
many of these people could have been convinced that the American (and hence
Christian) thing to do was to round up all the undesirables and place them into
camps. While it sounds far fetched, I don't think so. Many would just unhappily
go along, but many would be eager to take part and encourage their children to
'sign up' for 'duty'.

Personally
I don't think the great experiment of Democracy works at all. I think it's been
a pretty miserable failure. It's very telling in our present system that
whoever raises the most money will probably win...not because of their message,
but because they can flood the market with advertising. That shows where the
public is at. Information doesn't really work anymore. Entertainment and
sensationalist propaganda are the only way to reach people. The Church is no
different. In fact in some ways it's in even worse shape.

This man
at the shopping mall and his son are not good for the country. What is needed
is people who won't fall for the lies, people who will question what is being
done and help to hold others accountable...speak truth to power. Rather than
worship Molech with everyone else, we need people who will be Salt and Light or
at the very least express some skepticism toward those who would shed blood
based on obvious disinformation. From a purely secular standpoint, I would
prefer citizens who aren't blind patriots but who understand patriotism as a
responsibility...not the responsibility of picking up a gun, but of examining
the claims and agenda of elected leaders. Patriotism might mean refusing to
follow them or taking to the streets to protest what they're doing.

It might
mean as Christians we can't be the most patriotic people, but if I was a
picking a Babylon to live in...I'd sure rather live in one where the people
hold the government to account than one in which they blindly follow. I may not
be on the streets with them...but I might be thankful that Providence has seen
fit to motivate people in that way. In the meantime I'll keep living my quiet
life, being salt and light, speaking whenever I can, redeeming the time and
being a witness.

I'm
afraid our work doesn't make it on to CNN or BBC. That doesn't mean that it's
not important. In fact, I could argue the discussion I was having that day in a
spiritual sense might have been the most important 'event' in a fifty mile
radius. I don't know that, but it may have been. The discussion, its fallout in
his life and circles and mine... these articles I'm writing may affect more
people and more of the world than anything the local newspaper printed the next
day. The world won't see it that way, but we should. So while the Dominionist
would say I wasn't doing much, I strongly beg to differ. I was doing exactly what
I should have been doing...contending for the truth on a shopping mall bench
outside of Joann Fabrics. I don't mean to sound grandiose but it may have been
even more important than an election or the appointment of a judge. Who can
say? What if thousands of Christians across this country challenged the
Sacralist status quo, the Sacralist Ecclesiastical Establishment? They might
accomplish far more than some ridiculous Values Voters Summit. The Church needs
to re-think this whole idea of victory, success, and power.

Look at
Jesus, Paul, and the other Apostles. Look at the prophets. Were their lives
wasted? They didn't seem to be doing much in the way of taking back the culture
or transforming it. They spoke the truth and lived as witnesses. Sometimes they
got in trouble for it, but they never put their confidence in princes nor
depended on man for help.

What I
won't do is just go along with whatever mass hysteria has gripped the culture.
I won't chase after the American Dream and pretend it's somehow Christian, and
I won't sacrifice my children to the Sacral State.

I don't
equate Patriotism with willingness to wear a uniform and carry a gun. I met
hordes of people in the military who baffled me. I couldn't understand why they
were there? Many seemed to be there because they needed a job or a way to get
into university. Many were career minded, or trying to stay out of trouble.
There were some who really cared about America and felt they were 'serving',
but many seemed to know better and realize that what we were often doing, had
little or nothing to do with making Americans safe or their lives better. This
was before 11 September. I 'm sure that single event changed much within the
military cultural mindset.

I
remember very strongly feeling like a pawn in a large game...which is what I
was. Largely the military is just its own subculture, a self-contained world
with its own values, lingo, and caste system. I think a lot of people found a
comfort there. You never have to worry about your housing, your food, or being
unemployed. You're privileged, especially overseas where your part of an elite
group that looks down on the local population. Domestically you command respect
and have access to benefits like socialized medicine, pension, travel, and
other things the regular public is excluded from.

As a
Christian I have a real problem with Patriotism in any form, but even then it
must be defined. Do Christo-Americans root their Patriotism in ideals? What
ideals? Sometimes they're heretical ideals based on misapplied Scripture. The
ideals of Freedom, Democracy...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

If so, I
could argue strongly that the Patriotic position in the post 2001 world ...would
have been to strongly oppose the wars as being contrary to these ideals.

Is being
Patriotic about serving my fellow Americans that I share the nation with? I
don't think too many Evangelicals would put it this way, as they seem to all
but despise a good percentage of the people who inhabit the nation. But again,
if that's patriotism, then I could argue that the war is harmful to my
neighbour, not just Iraqis (who are also neighbours and fellow men), but people
that live around me. Americans will be maimed and killed, we will generate
future enemies and spend billions of dollars we don't have.

Is being
Patriotic following orders, picking up a gun and killing when told to do so? If
so, then it would be my Christian duty to be as anti-Patriotic as possible,

No
matter how I look at it, having a large segment of the population that willingly
and blindly subjects itself to propaganda and is willing to kill and be killed
for these causes is not good for the nation in any way shape or form. Power,
dangerous tyrannical power will not be held in check or to account by such a
population.

4 comments:

I didn't think 'sin' and atonement ever entered the minds of any ANE pagans (let alone Greeks or Romans!). The radical thing of Israel is that all were 'Imago Dei' not only the king. Atonement wasn't as much about reconciling, but surviving another season.

Perhaps propitiation would have been a better term to use, but that concept is wedded to the greater concept of atonement.

True the Romans and Greeks did not have the same ideas regarding sin...though it wasn't entirely absent either. Human sacrifice in the most ancient of times still represented some type of attempt to make things right with the god for the sake of the community or society.

But primarily I was thinking about the ANE, the Phoenecians (which of course includes Carthage) and the other Canaanite peoples.

They were definitely trying to pacify incurred wrath. Of course everyone debates exactly what it means...Christians certainly can't agree on what Atonement means either.

Point taken, perhaps I should have been more clear.

I realized this would probably be a bit of a stretch for some, but my point is that Sacralism (which is the majority form of paganism) often seems to bring out the same body of ideas and concepts over and over again...no matter what its setting.

It's a little different everytime, but in others ways it's always the same thing.

I realize Christo-Americans don't think they're appeasing God by 'sacrificing' their sons. But they do seem to view with a sense of holiness and awe especially when they apply redemptive language belonging to Christ to the acts and deeds of their warrior-martyrs.

It does end up becoming a type of human sacrifice.

I think men who defended a country or land can be honoured but we need to be more careful with the language.

But of course for Americans there hasn't been a defensive war since what? 1812? And even that was a sham.

Soldiers on the offense are not defenders (obviously) but murderers.

I realize you can't build a national idea with this stuff but what does that have to do with us?

"I may not be on the streets with them...but I might be thankful that Providence has seen fit to motivate people in that way. In the meantime I'll keep living my quiet life, being salt and light, speaking whenever I can, redeeming the time and being a witness."

I think I wrote about it somewhere. I remember being in Edinburgh back in 1997 and I was walking with a guy after church down the Royal Mile, the main drag through the old town that goes from the castle to Holyrood Palace. You pass the parliament building on the way. The Scots lost their Parliament in 1707 and just regained it in 1999.

At the time Tony Blair had just been elected and Scotland was beating the independence drum. Braveheart had just come out and 1997 was also the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Stirling. I remember they had a big special display there. Anyway, we were walking past the parliament and I asked my Scottish friend about the Scottish National Party.

He said he couldn't really support them in terms of promoting a rejection of the British crown and the parliament in London... He didn't want to get caught up in all the nationalism etc...

BUT...if they were successful ...hey that was okay too!

That's kind of how I feel about a lot of things. It's not my task...I have more important tasks even if no one else thinks they're important. In the meantime if certain groups have some success stirring the pot...more power to them.